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Sunday, February 20, 2011

There is nothing more elegant and romantic than listening to harp music on Valentine's Day! It is always a busy day for us, and this year was no exception.

The day began with a solo performance that I gave for a tour group that was on a Valentine's Day Mystery Tour. They enjoyed a family style meal at Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury, Indiana, and after dessert was served, they got to hear a harp concert of familiar love songs!

There were love songs from movies and musicals, as well as a French Romantic piece and other popular songs from the 1920's through the 1970's. The program for the afternoon was:

Of course, I ended with "My Funny Valentine"! The guests said that they appreciated the variety of selections, and had lots of questions to ask about the harp when the concert was over. Everyone asks about the pedals - they are for changing the strings to sharps and flats (like the black keys on a piano). There are seven of them, and yes - I do have to move them while I play!

I loaded up my harp and drove back to South Bend, where Jeff was waiting to add his harp to the back of the van. We headed to the Strongbow Inn in Valparaiso, where we were providing harp duet music for the dinner crowd. We played for the holiday last year as well, and were thrilled to come back again!

Harps aren't just for weddings! Visit our website (http://www.theclassicharpist.com/) for more information about having a private harp concert or background music for any event.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

For a February wedding, Kirsti & David had a beautiful afternoon with clear blue skies - and just enough snow on the ground to remind everyone that it was still winter! Planning from California for an Indiana wedding was a bit of a challenge, but she had local friends assisting, and we were able to make all of the ceremony music plans by email.

Being Valentine's Day weekend, the color was red - the bridesmaids' dresses, the flowers, even the trim on the bride's veil. This was not only the first wedding in Zion Lutheran's new church building, but the first anything! The next day was their first regular Sunday worship service, but there's no better way to consecrate a new church building than with a wedding.

Most of the music was traditional: the families & bridal party - along with the cutest little flower girl! - entered to Pachelbel's "Canon in D", and the bride's processional was Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" - also known as "Here Comes the Bride". During the ceremony, while the couple was having their unity sand service, the bride asked me to play "Fields of Gold". The recessional was an upbeat "Trumpet Voluntary".

Monday, February 07, 2011

On Sunday, January 31st, we participated in a bridal expo at Hamilton's 110 North East in Jacksonville, IL. It was sponsored by Jacksonville Main Street, and we enjoyed meeting all of the brides and other area wedding vendors.

Special thanks to Steve Warmowski of Warmowski Photography for the pictures of me playing! If you visit their blog, you'll see some pictures of the bridal & prom fashion shows, too.

We had a drawing at our booth for a free hour of harp music for the cocktail hour, and our winner was Krysta, whose November wedding will take place at Hamilton's.

Before the expo, I played for a Mass at Our Savior's Catholic Church. The music director, Ann Marie Stahel, and I played harp & flute duets for the prelude and to accompany the choir. It made for a busy morning, but it was wonderful to reconnect with the Jacksonville crowd!

If you are looking for a wedding harpist in Central Illinois, please contact us. We are available to provide harp music for events throughout the region, and look forward to hearing from you!

Sunday, February 06, 2011

This Valentine's Day, Jeff & I will return to Valparaiso's Strongbow Inn to play romantic harp duet music for the holiday. We will be playing on Monday night from 5:00-9:00 (Central time), and reservations are strongly recommended.

Call (219) 462-5121 to reserve your table. This is a wonderful time to come and hear the harps in person, especially if you are considering hiring us for a wedding or other event. Hope to see you there!

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

The Classic Harpist stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud The Classic Harpist for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”

We are happy to announce that The Classic Harpist is among the very best wedding ceremony musicians within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee.

Special thanks to all of our brides, grooms & families we worked with in 2010 who voted for us and reviewed us on WeddingWire. We appreciate your support, and look forward to another great year of weddings in 2011!

Thursday, February 03, 2011

I had two weddings this January - one on a beach in Miami, one in snowy South Bend! Winter weddings pose some challenges for planning, but if you aren't afraid of the cold, it's a great time to get married! The lighting for pictures is better, you will have your pick of vendors without competition from lots of other brides getting married on the same date, and you might even get off-season discounts or lower minimums than during the peak May through October months.

This ceremony took place in the lobby of the historic Tippecanoe Place. This mansion belonged to the Studebaker family, and has been converted into a fine dining restaurant. The ornately carved staircase made the perfect backdrop for the couple's vows.

The bride loves the song "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera, so she chose to have that played during the seating of families and for the processional of the bridal party. When you have live music, a professional musician can shorten or lengthen any piece you select to make it fit the time needed! She entered to the traditional "Bridal Chorus" by Wagner, and the recessional was a less traditional but classical piece: "Finale from Royal Fireworks" by Handel.

The processional and recessional was on the grand staircase, rather than down the aisle between the rows of guests. The ceremony was followed by a receiving line (accompanied by harp music), and guests followed the bridal party upstairs to the second floor lounge to enjoy the cocktail hour.

If you are planning your wedding in Northern Indiana, and would like to have harp music for your ceremony or reception, please contact us or visit our website for more information: